Chapter 8: Lack of Education

Cade went to work at the tire store every day and devoted the rest of his spare time to fixing up the house. The window frames on the house were old and needed replaced, but there was no way Cade could afford that. He had no choice but to use the old window frames and chip the old bits of glass out of them so he could cement new glass in each window. Cade had to painstakingly measure each window and arrange to have new sheets of glass cut to fit each window. It was a long and tedious process, but eventually Cade replaced the glass in every window on the house. He would repair the screens in the spring, and for now would store the screens in the garage. It was amazing how much having the boards removed from the outside of the house and the new glass installed in the windows brightened things up.

Cade also hauled away the old rotten mattresses and cleaned up most of the other trash that had accumulated in the yard and other places over the last fifty years. Cade was convinced his grandpa Walt never bothered to throw anything away. Cade replaced the old rotting living room furniture with some second hand furniture he bought at the local thrift store for less than $100 and the second hand furniture was in much better condition. He found bed frames in the garage for the twin mattress sets he had purchased for the girls and got rid of the double sized bed frame they had been sleeping on. Eventually the house began to take shape. It was a very exhausting process, and Cade began to doubt whether or not this was the life he wanted; but as things began to improve, his commitment increased.

What little money they had, began to dwindle. Money for gasoline, food, and everything else they needed was becoming more difficult to produce. Being a working man living in poverty was no fun. Cade wanted to provide a decent life for himself and his family, but it was an uphill battle. The sad thing was this house was the best place they had ever lived.

Callie fell into a routine of her own. She woke up early every morning to prepare breakfast for all of them and then she cleaned the house most of the day. Once she got started cleaning, she enjoyed seeing the house clean and it motivated her to continue. She sorted through the papers and other junk that Walt had left behind in the house and she dusted and mopped all the floors and cleaned the throw rugs as best she could. The house was old, but it was turning into a nice place to live. Callie often feared the old furnace that was located down in the basement, a place they hadn't dare explore much, might give out any day considering all the noise it made every time the heat kicked on. She also noticed that the house creaked and swayed a little every time a strong wind kicked up, which made her nervous at first until she realized the house was very solid.

The mail arrived regularly, but most of it consisted of bills and advertisements. Callie stayed home a lot because for one thing she had never learned to drive a car. When she had been living in the city there was no need for her to drive. She always used public transportation. The truck and the car were both standard transmissions, which made driving them even more difficult, so for now Cade postponed teaching Callie how to drive and he did all the driving.

Cade and Callie were tired much of the time from working so hard and it set them on edge. They still weren't having sex, but most of the time they were both too exhausted to even think about that. For the most part, the children were well behaved, and Cade noticed as they began to eat regular meals, their appearances changed for the better. Ashley's face filled out, and her hair became thicker and healthier looking; she was no longer painfully thin and skeleton like. Harley and Jessica looked healthier as well, but the changes in them weren't quite as noticeable as they were in Ashley.

It had been six weeks since their trip to the furniture store and Thanksgiving was fast approaching. Callie went out to get the mail, as she did every afternoon, and was surprised to find a letter from the school in the mail box. She quickly opened it. It was a letter about Ashley. The school wanted to meet with them about Ashley. Callie brought the letter inside and set it on the table. When Ashley arrived home from school, Callie waved the letter in her face. "What's this?"

Ashley could barely read and she had no idea what the letter said. She stared at it and didn't know what to say. She and Callie had been getting along rather well recently because she had been helping Callie clean the house and she couldn't understand why Callie was so upset with her over a letter. "I don't know," Ashley said and chomped on her lower lip nervously.

"The school wants to talk to us about you," Callie was suspicious, "What would they want?"

Ashley's eyes grew big. "I don't know," she said nervously.

"When your dad gets home I'm sure he'll give you a whipping," Callie said furiously.

Ashley had struggled in school from day one. The other kids at school had yet to accept her, and she felt completely lost most of the time. "Don't tell him about it," Ashley pleaded.

"Oh, I'm telling him," Callie assured her.

Ashley was terrified and without thinking she bolted out the back door. Cade had been on edge lately because of all the work he was doing, and Ashley was sure he would explode when he saw the letter. She wanted to run far away in order to escape punishment, but she had no place to go and it was cold out. She ended up inside the garage slumped down between some old metal cans, shaking and trembling in fear; waiting for her dad to arrive home from work.

When Cade got home from work, Callie informed him about the letter and Ashley's abrupt departure. "Where is she?" Cade demanded.

"She went inside the garage; I saw her," Harley told him.

Cade was not in the mood to deal with Ashley's letter and he was beginning to think there was always something in life; that things would never get any easier. He wanted to take a shower and get out of his filthy clothes, but he knew he needed to go find Ashley first.

"Are you going to whip her daddy?" Jessica asked. "Don't whip her."

Cade brushed past all of them and headed out to the garage. He couldn't find Ashley at first and that annoyed him. He had brought the letter with him and he realized he hadn't taken the time to read it. He stood in the garage and read the letter and then he heard some movement from the corner and realized Ashley was hiding between some old cans. He tucked the letter in his pocket, walked over, and squatted down in front of her. "What's going on?" He asked sternly.

Ashley still had long scraggly hair and it fell in front of her eyes. She had been bawling for a long time and her eyes were puffy and red. Cade reached out to tilt her chin up so she would look at him and she flinched at his touch. He could see she was terrified by the way she was violently shaking. "Is something wrong at school?" Cade asked.

Ashley couldn't answer him. He slowly reached out, grabbed her by the arms, and pulled her out of the corner so he could talk to her easier. "No dad!" She pulled back in fear.

"Ashley!" Cade said sternly and he could feel how cold she was; she was freezing. "Why are you acting like this? Did you do something wrong?"

"I don't know," She sobbed in anguish. "I don't want a whipping."

Cade's heart melted a little, "What makes you think I'm going to whip you?"

Ashley had never had a good experience when the school sent a letter home. Grandpa Seth would have beaten her severely. As ornery as Cade had been lately, she figured he wouldn't hesitate to do the same. He had yet to whip her over anything and she was not anxious for him to do so. "I don't know what I did," Ashley said in anguish. She had tried to fade into the background at school and not make trouble. None of the other students talked to her at all or wanted anything to do with her.

Cade pulled her trembling form over to an old bench in the garage and sat down next to her. "I want to talk to your teacher first, before I decide if you deserve a whipping."

Ashley began to calm down a little, but she was still crying and shaking. She didn't trust him, even though he had been nothing but kind to her. She had grown to love him with all of her heart and she had never felt that way about anyone since her mother died; even her grandma. "I-I didn't mean to do anything wrong."

Cade put his arm around her, "I don't like you running away and hiding. I was scared when you weren't in the house and I couldn't find you. I'm glad Harley knew you were out here."

Ashley had no place else to go. "I-I didn't mean to run away."

Cade realized how much her spirit had been beaten down over the years. He pulled her into his arms and hugged her. "Let's go back inside. I'll go meet with your teacher tomorrow since I have the day off, and then we'll talk about what will happen after that, OK?" He lifted her chin.

Ashley nodded. She wasn't sure it made her feel any better that she would have to wait. She would almost rather take her whipping now and get it over with. Cade took her by the hand and led her back inside the house.

Callie shook her head, "Don't ever take off like that again Ashley," she warned.

"Are you going to whip her daddy?" Jessica asked.

"Shut up Jess," Harley said angrily.

Jessica had grown fond of Ashley and she didn't like the idea of her getting whipped. "She's MY Ashley," Jessica said.

Cade was stunned to hear Jessica's words. He walked over and picked up Jessica and smiled at her, "YOUR Ashley?"

Jessica nodded.

What Cade and Callie didn't realize was that Jessica had grown rather fond of Ashley ever since they began sharing a bedroom. At night when Jessica got scared, Ashley let her climb in bed with her; and she also helped Jessica do a number of other things. The children were becoming protective of one another. What Cade had wanted to happen all along was beginning to happen naturally; they were becoming a family.

Cade insisted that Callie go with him to see Ashley's teacher, but she didn't want to. "Why should we both go?"

"Because we are her parents," Cade said.

Callie felt more like Ashley's mother now than she had initially, but she was not quite in the mothering role yet. "She's your daughter, not mine."

Cade grabbed her by the arm and looked down into her eyes. "I don't ever want to hear you say that again or I'll get that strap out."

Callie swallowed, "Cade!"

Cade was insistent that Callie treat Ashley like her own child and he wouldn't settle for anything less. They had not talked about it in a long time because they had both been too busy. "I mean it Callie."